Nothing must be revealed. The solution to this crossword is in this image. the clues are explained in the following video, then there are a few words about the (mini-)theme after that.

This puzzle is a pangram. I started writing it in January, soon after the news had broken of the death of Terry Hall. I can’t honestly say I was a massive fan of The Specials or the Fun Boy Three, – the titular NEW WAVE (apparently – I’ve never been quite sure what exactly constituted the genre) trio – since I never bought any of their records. But then again, I liked pretty much everything I heard by them. I was at Glastonbury the year that The Specials headlined, and had made a note to make sure to get to see them. Somehow, time slipped away, and I arrived only in time to see them close their set with Ghost Town. Well, if I could only see them play one song, that was the one. I always liked Terry’s DOLEFUL demeanour onstage – Annie Nightingale teasingly nicknamed him Miserable As Sin Terry Hall – though later revelations (see interview below) put a different slant on that. So this is my small TRIBUTE to him.